NIDA's drug warrior stupidity preventing studies of marijuana

[RainDog]

Just ponder the stupidity of this remark:

Marijuana is a trend that “will peak like tobacco then people will see their error,” said Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, which serves as the gatekeeper for U.S. marijuana research through its oversight of a pot farm that grows the only plants that can be used in clinical trials.

Funny. I don't recall scientists who wanted to study tobacco for its use an an adjunct to pharmaceutical medicine for issues such as wasting and nausea from chemotherapy.

I've never seen tobacco quell seizures in children who are at risk of death from the same.

I've never seen federal agencies try to cover up the reality that studies indicated tobacco caused cancer cells to die off, while leaving healthy cells intact. But yeah, sure, marijuana is just like tobacco in that tiny enclave Volkow has built in her mind regarding this issue.

But, after stalling for decades, the NIDA has approved a study looking at PTSD for veterans. Now, even though a farm at a university Mississippi receives a million dollars a year to grow marijuana legally - they don't have enough marijuana to supply the studies.

Yeah. The NIDA can’t get enough of the type of pot needed for this study until 2015, according to Rick Doblin, of MAPS.

After 22 years of hard-fought efforts, the non-profit pharmaceutical company Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) has finally obtained approval from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for a FDA clinical trial to examine the medical safety and efficacy of marijuana. The trial would study military veterans suffering from treatment-resistant post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Yet the study’s ability to receive Arizona state funding is in jeopardy due to State Senator Kimberly Yee.

Arizona has collected millions of dollars from its medical marijuana program. Under Arizona’s medical marijuana law, that money is reserved for furthering the provisions of the law and should include research and education – but none of it has been spent. A bill being considered by lawmakers would give the Arizona Department of Health Services discretion to use some of this surplus funding to study the medical benefits of marijuana. On March 10th, the bill HB 2333, sponsored by State Representative Ethan Orr of Tucson, passed the Arizona House 52-5, with strong bi-partisan support. But State Senator Kimberly Yee (Phoenix), who chairs the Senate Education Committee, refused to put the bill on her committee’s agenda before the March 20th deadline – saying only that she wanted the funds to be directed for drug abuse prevention.

Dr. Sue Sisley of the University of Arizona, who is the principal investigator of the proposed study, is also frustrated with the inaction of Senator Yee. “Twenty-two veterans a day are killing themselves,” said Dr. Sue Sisley, “They’re not benefiting from conventional medicine. And while many are using marijuana to help them with this debilitating disorder, they want it to be legitimized. They want data. They want to know what doses to take. They want to be able to discuss this with their doctors. The Obama administration is hearing this, because allowing us to do this study does represent a major shift in policy.”

“Cannabis medicine is natural, gentle, non-toxic, and should be available to PTSD sufferers in Arizona,” said Heather Manus, president of the Arizona Cannabis Nurses Association. “Many PTSD patients in neighboring states are successfully finding relief of symptoms through the use of cannabis.” The AZCNA has filed a petition with the Arizona Department of Health Services on behalf of veterans and other PTSD sufferers to add PTSD as a debilitating condition under the state’s medical marijuana law.

http://www.maps.org/media/view/press_release_arizona_state_senator_blocks_funding_for_long-sought_med/

The reality is that it takes four months to produce pounds of marijuana - as many pounds as someone would want or need, via indoor grows - which the university could certainly do if the NIDA didn't want to continue to obstruct research.

So, let's add to the death toll of the drug warriors any vet who kills himself, among the 22 per day who do, who could benefit from marijuana in relation to symptoms of PTSD, in addition to the vets who have killed themselves in the 22 years the NIDA has refused to acknowledge they, not marijuana, are the drug problem in this nation.

Excuse my French, but fuck these folks who are doing this.

I am sick of this shit from these fucking liars.

[jwirr]

1. This organization needs to be sued by disabled persons including Vets, persons with epilepsy,

persons with cancer and persons with chronic pain. They have the right to know if this works or not.

[RainDog]

2. Sue State Senator Kimberly Yee (Phoenix) while they're at it.

She only wants money to go to drug warriors, not to any actual research into medical benefits.

So, yeah, she can piss off, too.

I wish these organizations would sue - but, afaik, you can't sue the govt., though they can come after you for using marijuana to deal with the trauma of one of Bush Jr's wars.

But I'm not sure. Maybe they can sue.

I think we need some lawyers to sue Congress for violating the 14th amendment:

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

It is unequal protection under the law for Washington D.C. to have legal medical marijuana while many states can still put someone in prison FOR LIFE for mere possession of marijuana under three strikes rules.